Travel report of our trip to Dia, Sierra Leone in May 2007

By Josephine Smits, Luuk Smits and Hans Meertens

Friday May 11th 2007: Dommelen-Amsterdam-Gatwick-Freetown

Our family brought us to Amsterdam airport. After some problems because of a luggage overload, Luuk faced a tedious period. For the first time in his life he had to fly, and Hans drove him onto the plane as a professional shepherd.

It is about an hour to Gatwick, London. The turbulence was considerable, and this made the trip to the bathroom a whole experience. Our flight to Freetown will last about 6.5 hours. We are situated at the emergency exit, so this means a lot of leg space.
At 14.00 we are passing the Algarve. The Mediterranean Sea looks beautiful. At 15.00 we are above the Atlas Mountains (at least, that is what we think) with snow-covered mountain tops. Luuk is still not able to look out of the window.

At 17.30 we land at Freetown National Airport. The warmth closes upon us like a wet blanket. We are now in Africa. We receive a warm welcome from our hosts Sahr Ngayenga, Tamba James, Rev. Barclay and the driver Mohammed. These people would be our guides for the week. They accurately made sure that nothing would happen to us. The people are extremely nice. We talk about various topics. Politics, private matters, it does not matter.

It did take two hours before the ferry came. A chaos of people comes from the boat. We have been travelling for about twenty hours now, and we are wasted. The crossing with the ferry and the waiting took us three hours total. With a helicopter it takes seven minutes! After this, a ride follows from east to west Freetown. We drove through a city with over a million inhabitants. A pauperized city with clear marks of the war, that ended only five years ago and which lasted for more than ten years.

No electricity, sometimes it is pitch dark. Everywhere are market booths which are only lighted with oil lamps or torches. The market booths are continuously opened. Some of them have made  little bar and sell something there. Young girls sell themselves on the unlighted streets. The traffic is a huge chaos. Rules do not seem to exist and the person who honks the loudest gets the right of way.

We arrive at our hotel, Chinatown, in a touristy part of town situated at the beach. There are hardly any tourists to be seen.

 Saturday May 12th: Freetown – Bo

After a reasonable amount of sleep we walked on the beach for a bit. Some fishermen were fishing. They all called their boats after European football clubs. The boat that was called after PSV appeared to have sunk. The departure time should have been 10.00, but turned out to be 12.30. We then decide to step away from our European standards. We visited a clinic in Freetown. Please do not even whine to us about long waiting times in the Dutch medical institutions.

We continue our trip in our luxurious jeep. After over four hours of driving on sometimes bad roads, we arrive in Bo. The hotel ´The Imperial Hotel` was reasonably luxurious and the air conditioning worked, but unfortunately not without noise. Up till now we have broken every travel advice that was given to us in advance.

Sunday May 13th: Bo – Porluma village

After three and a half hours we arrive at Sahr’s village, Porluma village. The welcome and the way we were taken care off were impressive. We immediately became an attraction. We took a short look at the school. We will see the kids tomorrow. Hans en Luuk got the best room in the only house made of brick in the village. The room was hot, but let us not whine. Josephine slept in a room together with other women.

Monday May 14: In Dia

We visited ‘the Paramount Chief‘ (a mayor / a Queen’s Commissioner). He is an important man and glad fully he supports our project. We then went to see the school in full swing. The students had been well instructed and marched the school yard, African style, but the attempt was endearing. They sang: ‘I love my teacher and my teacher loves me’. See if the same approach works at our schools. The smaller students really won our hearts.

Many official speeches and Hans offered a collage of his school  ‘de Reis van Brandaan’. Hans and Luuk were given new names. Hans was baptized Tamba Hans and Luuk was bestowed with the honourable title of Sahr Tia. We were offered African clothing, an additional goat and a bag filled with life chickens. We are developing into well experienced speakers.

A football match was organized especially for us. Everywhere in the world, football supporters are ruthless. When the goalkeeper missed a ball there was a loud laughter.

We spoke with numerous people and shook many  hands. It was good to see that the building of the school had already started.

At night, back to the village of Sahr. We got a farewell party, which was rudely interrupted by a thunderstorm. It cooled us down nevertheless, and so we had a good night’s sleep for a change.

Tuesday May 15: Dia - Bo

We went to the school again. Kids jumping up from there ‘bamboo seating sticks’ on which only a chicken would sit comfortably. The enthusiasm observed during the handing out of jotters was awesome. The kids once more touch our hearts and we just can’t refuse the many little hands that want to touch us.

Hans is triggering laughter all the time and he just likes to ‘spice things up a bit’. He is not an official member of the Wanda Foundation, but he travelled on behalf of his school 'De reis van Brandaan'. This school donated a considerable amount to our foundation.

We spoke with many teachers and they gave us a long list of things they need. Teachers themselves are the school’s biggest asset, a fact that is also often forgotten in the Netherlands.

Officially 579 kids have been enrolled but they don’t all attend school on a daily basis. Lack of money or having to work at home plays a role here.
Teaching all children at the same time wouldn’t work and so the teaching is split up in two parts. The first group is taught from 8:00-12:00 and the second from 13:00-17:00. Long working days for teachers and on top of that they still haven’t received a salary from the government.
At last we say goodbye and with burdened hearts we leave for Freetown. The kids run after us as long as possible. By now we know even better why we have started this project. Sahr has other occupations and leaves us. Our new jeep is a lot less luxurious and we spend the night again in Bo.

Wednesday May 16: Bo - Freetown

Now we’re travelling real African style. No more air conditioning , our baggage and passengers in the open trunk sharing space with the goat and chickens. Poverty remains visible everywhere but it looks like you get used to anything. Having arrived in Freetown we dine in ‘the Black and White Restaurant’ the name of which becomes a lot more plausible when we enter.

After our meal we’re dropped off at a luxury hotel called ‘Cabenda’. The room was so big that the three of us could sleep in one room. Lovely shower, electricity and even a TV set. We were exhausted but satisfied with the success of our journey.  

Thursday May 17: Freetown

Today we are going to visit the teachers training school. This is a visit not officially connected to our ‘Wanda mission’ but Hans and Luuk are teachers and so they don’t want to miss out on this opportunity. It looked like ‘the Milton Margai College of Education and Technology ’ has to make do with absolutely no teaching materials at all, probably due to the rebels looting the area.

We had a fantastic meal again at 'Black&White'. If ever you find yourself in Freetown, that restaurant is an absolute must. Then at full speed to Calaba Town where we were expected to attend a ceremony. Again a lot of high flown language in yet another speech. Rev. Barclay’s enthusiasm was catching. The hampering generator, rented for the occasion, causes a few uncalled for breaks. So much effort, so many beautiful words and gifts, for us…we’re a little embarrassed.

After the ceremony we walked in pitch black darkness to the reverend’s house. Torches led the way. We found the house stiflingly hot and again a meal for the visitors. Our heads were filled to the brim with new impressions and we were living as in a dream.

Friday May 18: Going home

This day basically consisted of waiting, traffic chaos and sweating profusely. We left the hotel at 13:00 to arrive at the airport only at 19:00. As the crow flies a distance of just 30 km. Every now and again the ferry halted and traffic in Freetown was even worse than usual.

Our guides, Tamba James and Rev. Barclay, waved us goodbye. They were two of our dear Sierra Leone’s guardian angles. We won't ever forget their hospitality. We left in style. We had spent all our money and so we were hardly able to buy something to eat or drink. Josephine is going to stay to meet some relatives and friends. Luuk still doesn’t like flying. No nagging, get in and drive chauffeur.

Saturday May 19: Home again (Hans and Luuk)

At 6:00 we landed at Gatwick airport. We have been awake for 22 hours now and we don’t know whether to sit, lie or walk. In 10 hours’ time our flight to Amsterdam will leave.
Quarter to 6 we land there awaited by family. After having returned home there’s a lot of talking and looking at pictures. At last a sound night’s sleep after having gone without for about 40 hours.
The trip was a success and has convinced us that every Euro of our foundation will be well spent. The people were great and very grateful. The sense of community there reminded us of the Netherlands of long ago.
Optimism prevailed and we didn’t notice any feelings of revenge towards the rebels. The country wants to move ahead and, for the time being, this can’t be done without foreign aid. Sierra Leone, its people and nature were impressive. It cannot be explained; you have to experience it yourself!  
 

Saturday May 26: Home again (Josephine)

After an exhausting extra week I have returned to the Netherlands. This trip means a lot to me. I am glad that now more members of our foundation 'really' know why we are all doing this. The trip has given me new energy and has inspired me even more to continue. I have looked at the beautiful pictures of the trip together with my husband and family and I feel, maybe a bit strange, proud. I am very grateful to everbody that has made our trip to a success and thank you all on behalf of the Wanda foundation. I am especially grateful to our friends in Sierra Leone, who gave us a warm welcome and toke care of us during these last weeks.

Please let us continue to cooperate in order to achieve our goals!

For more photos and a video report take a look at this site. You can see here the route of the trip we made.